


When Worlds Collide

by LilyAnson



Category: Primeval, Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, Dinosaurs, End of the World, F/M, M/M, Or not, anomalies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyAnson/pseuds/LilyAnson
Summary: Ketch is halfway across the country when the Croatoan virus break out.  Worried about his boyfriend he races as fast as he can to find out if Mick is still alive or not.  Upon arrival he finds something new.  A strange, floating object, seemly made out of what appeared to be glass shards hovered nearby.-Matt is a traveler from the future bent and determined to save his world.  If that means he has to use the people around him, so be it.  That is, until he falls for one of his fellow teammates.  Now he must decide whether or not saving the potential future is worth losing the one person he's ever loved.-Otherwise known as what happens when dinosaurs and the supernatural meet.
Relationships: Abby Maitland/Connor Temple, Matt Anderson/Hilary James Becker, Mick Davies/Arthur Ketch
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: SPN Dystopia Bang 2020





	When Worlds Collide

**Author's Note:**

> You don't have to have seen Primeval but it does help if you have. Either way please enjoy. Also, many thanks to AnyRei for the beautiful artwork.
> 
> \---
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

  
  
When the virus hit it was a surprise to everyone. No one had seen anything like it before or knew what to do about it. Before anyone even realized how bad things were the disease had spread like the proverbial plague. A lot of good people had been wiped out early on and those that were left were scattered in small pockets across the country. Ketch had been halfway across the country when the roads had become unnavigable and all public transportation had shut down. By then all phone services had been cut as well. He had no way to contact the home office; no way to know if anyone was still alive. No way to know if Mick was alive.   
  
It had taken him weeks to make his way back to London. There had been twenty three of them left alive by the time he’d arrived. Twenty three out of an organization that had once numbered several hundred. When he arrived he was greeted, unsurprisingly, at gunpoint and inspected to ensure that he wasn’t one of the infected. While it hadn’t taken long Ketch was desperate for them to finish. He was terrified of the answer but he needed to know if Mick was still alive and there was no way they’d answer him before they were finished.   
  
When they were done he’d asked for a list of survivors. He’d had to read Mick’s name twice just to make sure it was really there and he wasn’t seeing things. Of course they had printed it as Michael Davies but it amounted to the same thing. Mick was alive. Initially they’d been forced to keep their relationship a secret. If the British Men of Letters had found out they would both probably have been killed. Now, with so few of them left, Ketch found he honestly didn’t care about ‘The Code’ anymore. If need be he would protect Mick with his dying breath. When anyone could become infected or die with almost no warning there was no way he was going to hide his feelings any longer.  
  
-  
  
Rowena was caught up in one of her safe houses when the outbreak happened. She’d been on one of her visits to England. She wasn’t sure what it meant but she knew she couldn’t stay put. She needed to find a way home and she needed to find it fast. She deliberately ignored the way ‘home’ felt like it actually meant something to her. She didn’t have a ‘home’, at least not in the traditional sense, and she didn’t need one. Exiting her front door she came face to face with a strange sight.  
  
-  
  
Ketch stared down at the bottle in his hands. All things considered it was a wonder to find a bottle that wasn’t broken or empty. It wasn’t a particularly good brand but at this point just finding any bottle was a miracle. Although he would have preferred a scotch, vodka was Mick’s choice of alcohol. Right now Ketch was grateful to find something that might just put a smile on Mick’s face. After the world had gone to hell in the proverbial handbasket it wasn’t like there was much else left to take pleasure in anymore.   
  
Besides, it might help a bit to keep Mick from being too pissed off at him for coming back injured. He really should have been paying better attention. In his defense when they wanted to be the infected could be pretty stealthy. Luckily he hadn’t been infected but he still hadn’t come away from the encounter unscathed. Carefully he inspected his hand. The fingers were a bit swollen but it should heal well enough. Flexing them a few times Ketch exited the abandoned store only to stop in his tracks and stare in wonder at the site before him.  
  
The orb shaped thing floating before him almost resembled an explosion of glowing shattered pieces of glass hanging in mid air. To the best of his knowledge there was nothing about anything like this in the lore. Mick would know for sure though. Truth be told Ketch always hated the research aspects of this job. He vastly preferred the more hands on approach. It’s partly why they made such a great team. While Mick loved getting lost in the research and lore side of the job Ketch thrived more on the action part of it. Mick was going to have a field day when Ketch told him about this.   
  
He was just about to leave when he spotted Rowena heading towards the broken glass looking, orb thing. Fuck, nothing was ever easy was it? Not where witches were concerned he reminded himself. By the time he got close enough to catch up with where she’d been she had disappeared. Damn that witch, he mentally cursed. As he tried to turn away Ketch realized he was suddenly being drawn towards the structure. Something in his armor was drawing him closer despite his wishes otherwise. It was almost as if…   
  
The metal, he realized too late. Something about the structure was magnetic. That meant the metal in his gear was drawing him forward. He needed to find a way to stop it before it was too late. If Mick were here then doubtless he would have made the connection sooner and thought of some way to counter it. As it was, Ketch was drawn through the orb and found himself just outside of a building he’d never seen before. The area looked a lot like London had before the outbreak of the virus but not quite the same. Shaking his head he set that question aside for later. For now he had to set his sights on finding the witch. If he could find her then maybe they could find a way out of this mess together.  
  
-  
  
“Look, if you boys would just-”  
  
“Rowena?” a new voice intoned.  
  
Becker swiveled around and aimed his EMD at the new arrival trusting his men to keep their own weapons trained on the redheaded woman. “Who are you?” Becker called out. The new arrival quickly drew his own gun. A forty-five H&K by Becker’s rough estimate. Not exactly new but also well maintained by Becker’s quick and rough estimate.   
  
“Let the lady go,” the new arrival stated firmly.  
  
“Not just yet,” Becker informed him, gun never wavering. “Now, who are you?” As he hoped the comment drew the other’s attention back to him.   
  
“Who are _you_?” the other countered.  
  
The gun didn’t waver in the slightest and for that Becker respected him. In the face of uncertainty he still remained strong. This was a worthy opponent. This man had something he believed in. The problem was what and how much. For now he focused on trying to find out how much the other knew about the anomalies.   
  
“No answers until I at least know who you and her are and get your names.”  
  
“The name’s Ketch,” the newbie stated. “And she’s with me.”  
  
“Lower. Your. Gun.” Becker ordered.   
  
“No,” Ketch, returned.  
  
“We do not negotiate with terrorists.”  
  
“And you think I’m a terrorist,” Ketch answered flatly, seemingly unimpressed with the proceedings.   
  
“What did you do to the anomaly?” Connor asked, suddenly butting into the conversation.  
  
“Not now Connor,” Becker ordered.   
  
“Anomalies? Is that what they’re called?” Rowena asked.  
  
“Rowena,” Ketch growled.  
  
“Everyone just stop talking,” Becker ordered. You,” Becker nodded towards Ketch. “I said drop your weapon.”  
  
-  
  
Ketch carefully eyed the small group of soldiers and their odd guns. He might be able to take out a few of them but he wouldn’t be able to get them all. He ran through a list of possible strategies before finally determining it would probably be best to agree for now. If he attempted to shoot his way out of this they’d never make it. Both of them would probably die. There were just too many people for him to ensure his and Rowena’s safety. Besides, it seemed these people knew more about these ‘anomalies’ as they termed them. He really should try to figure out what they knew. Information was always useful, or so Mick always claimed.   
  
Even with all of the tools at their disposal the Men of Letters, or what was left of them, hadn’t been able to understand the portals. Anomalies, he mentally corrected himself. At least now he had a name for them. Right. With the immediate course of action chosen Ketch raised the muzzle of his gun and removed his finger from the trigger. Decocking his gun he started to slowly replace it when the man that seemed to be in charge here cleared his throat. Ketch mentally rolled his eyes. Still he hadn’t honestly expected that he would be allowed to keep his weapons. He held the gun out for others to take. He really, really, hoped they’d return it. He didn’t know how long he’d be here and or how hard it might be to get another gun later.  
  
-  
  
Becker eyed the man cautiously before moving. Carefully, he made his way forward until he was within arm’s distance. Just as carefully, he reached out and took the gun out of the other man’s hand. Finally he was able to relax, even if only slightly. The woman still put him on edge for reasons he didn’t understand but for now she didn’t seem like much of a threat. He kept the majority of his focus on the one called Ketch. He didn’t believe for one second that the woman was harmless but for now Ketch was the bigger threat.   
  
When he finally had the other man’s weapon he handed it back behind himself and let one of his men take it without moving his eyes from the man in front of him. Gripping his own weapon more tightly he proceeded to check the other for more weapons. He found another gun which wasn’t too unexpected. The man handled himself much like a soldier. Becker actually would have been surprised if he’d only found the one gun. The knife also wasn’t all that surprising either. What was actually surprising was the set of brass knuckles and the longer, silver, knife he found next. Frowning Becker inspected the knife. It was unlike any other knife he’d ever seen before. Finally he tucked the knife into his belt and took a step back.  
  
“That’s an awful lot of weapons,” Becker noted mildly.  
  
‘Ketch’ merely shrugged.  
  
\---  
  
Mick thought about making up an excuse to have a reason to check with the men guarding the entrances but ultimately decided against it. Arthur would have already been by to check in with Mick if he was back from his current foray. Still, he couldn’t stop the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Arthur wasn’t late yet, at least not too late. Late was highly relative in this day and age. Sometimes things came up that delayed scouting parties, Mick knew that better than anyone. Ever since the virus hit navigating the city and procuring supplies was ‘tricky’ work at best. There was absolutely no reason for him to worry about Arthur. At least, not yet. Huffing in annoyance Mick returned to the paperwork.  
  
\---  
  
Feeling slightly unprotected Ketch resigned himself to waiting until he could find a good opportunity to rearm himself. At least Rowena was here. Truth be told he wasn’t sure if she would go out of her way to help him but she could always be counted on to save herself and for now that was enough. Eventually they were led into what looked like the operations center for this organization. As they walked a shortish blonde woman joined them.  
  
There was a semi circular ramp that led up to another level. On this level there were several offices, a few people scurrying about, and a computer area set up in the center. He tried to take note of everything as they made their way towards the ramp. Some of the people cast a few glances their way but all in all most seemed to ignore them. It actually appeared to be a fairly well run organization. When they were at the top of the ramp they were led into one of the offices where a fairly well dressed man sat behind a desk.  
  
Ah, so probably the person in charge Ketch thought. If not in charge then the man at least had to have more seniority then those Ketch had already met. Judging by the man’s face when he looked up he was displeased by their arrival. Actually, the man looked like he was the type to be annoyed by pretty much everything. Ketch filed that information away as he waited silently for whatever was to come. The new man gave both he and Rowena a quick once over glance and Ketch was suitably satisfied when the man’s gaze didn’t linger on Rowena or her… assets.   
  
“New friends?” the man asked someone behind them.  
  
Ketch noted the raised eyebrow and irritable tone. The more he knew about these people the better. All information had the potential to be useful, or at least that was Mick’s speculation. Ketch did his best to adhere to it.  
  
“Too soon to tell sir,” the man that had disarmed him answered.  
  
“Of course it is,” the man muttered. “Okay so what _do_ we know?”  
  
“Just their names sir.”  
  
“Speaking of,” Ketch stated with a meaningful look to the man who had disarmed him.  
  
“Oh I’m Connor,” answered the one person whose name Ketch actually did manage to catch. “That’s Becker and that one over there is Lester,” Connor continued, pointing to each of them in turn. “And that’s Abby back there,” Connor added, indicating the blonde woman that had joined them. Abby raised a hand and gave a small halfhearted wave. “And you are?” Connor inquired.  
  
Ketch almost rolled his eyes. He’d already told them his name. Still, it wouldn’t do to add to the tension already surrounding the situation. It was probably better to keep things civil and just reintroduce himself. “Ketch,” he said with a tip of his head.   
  
“You have a first name?” Becker asked.  
  
“If you do,” Ketch retorted.  
  
The man seemed to bristle at that and didn’t answer. Interesting Ketch noted, but not really useful yet. As he was processing this Rowena took the time to introduce herself.  
  
“Rowena MacLeod,” she stated with a slight courtesy. “Now if we could all just lower the weapons a little I’m sure we could all discuss things like perfectly civilized adults.”  
  
Unable to help himself Ketch actually did roll his eyes at that remark. If there was one thing he knew for a fact it was that a few guns didn’t really worry that witch. She would either have some sort of safeguard in place or some other way to protect herself.   
  
“Yes, I do have to admit I don’t see the point of continuing to hold them at gunpoint right now given the current circumstances,” Lester answered.   
  
Becker and the others wearing similar black uniforms lowered their guns. Unless he was very much mistaken, and he rarely was, Ketch pegged them as military. His first thought was that they’d stumbled into some sort of secret government agency but then the Men of Letters knew about all of those. Besides, that didn’t explain Connor and Abby being here. He still wasn’t sure what to make of those two yet. He needed more intel before he could make any kind of decision. The door behind him started to open setting off a chain of events.  
  
“Hey I just noticed-” was all Ketch heard before three things happened. The door hit him, Ketch stumbled, and then dropped the bottle. He managed to grab for the bottle back just as he fell into a wall. While he did catch it the bottle did sustain a crack in the neck. Staring down at the bottle Ketch winced. He had to stop the leak before it lost too much. Wrapping his hand around the neck of the bottle he turned around to face the others.  
  
“Tape!” Ketch ordered.  
  
“Not until-”  
  
“Tape now or no answers,” Ketch threatened. And honestly, he was fairly certain he’d actually make good on the threat. If there was one person in the world he truly cared for it was his Mick. Ketch just might honestly kill one of these interfering interlopers if Mick didn’t get to try even a little bit of what just might be the last bit of alcohol in England.  
  
“Fine,” Becker growled. Turning he reached behind himself, held up a tape dispenser, and then tossed it with deliberate care.  
  
_Fuck,_ Ketch thought to himself. He reached out with his left hand and actually caught the tape. Thank fuck. He’d been worried about using his left hand. With the odd angle and his other hand occupied it had been a ‘toss up’ no, pun intended, on whether or not he would actually catch it. Still, he hadn’t had to give away that he was injured and for that he was fairly content. Besides, Mick would find out soon enough and be pissed enough for the world. Or, at least, Ketch’s world. Ketch shifted his gaze between the tape in his left hand and the cracked bottle gripped tightly in his right before turning to the others present.  
  
“A little help here?”  
  
\---  
  
“He should be back by now,” Mick demanded.   
  
“Sometimes he runs late,” Jeffrey reminded him.  
  
_Fuck that,_ Mick thought. If there was a possibility of Arthur ever running late then Arthur always told him that before leaving. Besides this was more than just ‘a little late’. Arthur was in trouble. Mick refused to growl at that sentiment. Arthur could take care of himself. Whatever happened he had to trust that Arthur was safe and would return soon. Until then he needed to do his part and ensure everything continued to run smoothly.  
  
“Of course,” Mick finally replied. It came out more steady than he felt. “Yeah, not reason to worry just yet. Go check medical and get me an up to date supply list would you? The one I have is a week old.”  
  
“On it,” Jeffrey acknowledged.  
  
For longer than he should have Mick let himself be tempted by the ‘what if’s’. He really shouldn’t be doing this. He knew better. After all, this was Arthur. Arthur would be fine, he had to be. Arthur was the only good thing he had left. After everything that Kendricks had put them through? No, there was no way he was going to accept that Arthur wouldn’t be back. At least not just yet.  
  
\---  
  
Bottle taped Ketch breathed a sigh of relief. It was a quick fix and probably wouldn’t hold for long but at least it worked for now and that’s all that mattered. Ketch adjusted his grip so that nothing would happen to the bottle again. Bottle temporarily safe he finally returned his attention to the others in the room. Becker raised an eyebrow at his actions but thankfully refrained from saying anything.   
  
“So is someone going to tell me what these two are doing in my office?” Lester asked.  
  
“We were returning from our latest…” Becker spared a look back at Ketch and Rowena before continuing. “‘Mission’ when we found her trying to enter the ARC.”  
  
Ketch frowned at that. To the best of his knowledge there was no organization with that acronym. Was it possible that a new institution had been formed and the Men of Letters just hadn’t found out about it yet?  
  
“I told you, I was unaware that there was any type of secure facility here,” Rowena disputed. “Honest mistake, really.”  
  
“When we showed up you grabbed Connor by the throat,” Becker shot back angrily.  
  
Ketch winced. He could just imagine the scene. He was honestly surprised that Becker hadn’t just shot Rowena instantly at that point. Then again, perhaps he couldn’t. Perhaps he didn’t have a clear shot at the time. Still, Ketch had learned it was better to take the shot and injure the person rather than risk the spread of the infection whether or not it was clear. Most of the time you merely ended up winging the other persona bit. Even if they required medical care at least they weren’t infected. If you ended up killing the person then it was still better to spare them the pain of what would eventually happen.   
  
“I was a lone woman without any protection. How was I to know he didn’t mean me harm?” Rowena retorted effortlessly.   
  
Ketch couldn’t stop himself from scoffing at that remark.   
  
“Something you want to say?” Becker inquired.  
  
Ketch shook his head. No way he was saying anything about her being a witch if they didn’t already know. “Nope, not a word.” He motioned for them to get on with things. “Don’t mind me, do continue.”  
  
\---  
  
“Uh, sir?”  
  
_“What?”_ Mick snapped.  
  
“It’s been three days…”   
  
“And,” Mick growled, turning to face the insolent ‘soldier’.  
  
“Uh, it just seems… You know… That if he was coming back-”  
  
“You stop right there,” Mick growled slowly. “Ketch will be back. He always returns, always. If you doubt him then you shouldn’t even be here.” The thing was he believed it. He had to. If Mick didn’t honestly believe Ketch would be back he didn’t know how he would be able to handle it. Ketch was the only thing that made life worth living now that everything had, metaphorically speaking, gone to hell. Ketch _would_ come back, he reassured himself once more.  
  
\---  
  
Mick woke up breathing heavily. He hated his dreams. This was one he’d had several times before. In it he’d gone on a mission with Arthur and they’d run across a group of the infected. He’d been too slow to protect him and had to watch as they’d killed Arthur. He couldn’t handle this. He really needed Arthur to come back. Unfortunately Arthur was still off on his supply run. He was going to have to figure out how to deal with Arthur’s absences better. In the meantime he was going to need to figure out how to lead those that were left. Usually that was Arthur’s job but with him still missing for the foreseeable future Mick was just going to have to deal with the things himself.   
  
It was either that or explain how he’d lost command in Arthur’s absence. That was something Mick wasn’t prepared to do just yet. And so he did his best to hold on to command for now. Besides, he still held out hope that Arthur would be back any time. If he just held on for a little bit longer then he could hand command back to his other half. Until then he was going to continue to ‘hold down the fort’, as Arthur would have said. Well, as Arthur would have said the American’s said in any event.  
  
Mick had never been to America before and didn’t care who had originally come up with the idiom. The one thing that mattered right now was getting Arthur back. Mick pulled the blanket tighter around himself and tried to breathe normally. Arthur _would_ be back soon. He had to be. As desperately as Mick tried to reassure himself he was starting to fail. He couldn’t help but be worried about how long it was taking.  
  
.  
  
Mick sat up straight and breathed heavily as he tried to regain his bearings. Nightmare, he told himself. Nothing more than yet another nightmare. Arthur was alive. Gods, what he wouldn’t give for a shot of vodka. Actually his preferred drink was Kamikaze's but he’d settle for just the alcohol if that’s all he could get. Actually, he’d settle for Arthur but there didn’t seem to be any way of that happening soon. At least it was finally morning.   
  
As he was trying to regain his bearings there was a knock. Gods the fuck damn it, Mick cursed. If it was Arthur then he wouldn’t knock. That meant his baby was still missing. That meant whomever was still knocking needed his attention; preferably soon. He wasn’t good at this kind of crap. He was supposed to be the logistics side of things. This was _never_ something he was good at nor a job he wanted. That was Arthur’s job.  
  
Mick flung the blanket off his legs. And, just as an aside, could they really not get thicker blankets? He really, really, hated being cold. He’d see if there was anyone free to look into the matter. Arthur usually helped to keep him warm but, of course, Arthur wasn’t here. He couldn’t focus on that right now. The knock came again. Fuck, he really needed to get up and answer that now. Ignoring the cold Mick made his way to the door and opened it.  
  
-  
  
Mick strayed closer to the different colored portal. “This one?” he asked.   
  
“Yes sir,” the other answered.  
  
He really wished he remembered their names. Again, that was an Arthur thing. What he did remember was that he needed to at least look like he knew what he was doing.   
  
“And this was the last place you saw… Ketch?” He could have stabbed himself for the hesitation. He really did need to get that under control if he wanted to remain in control and didn’t want to have a coup anytime soon.  
  
“Yes sir,” the other replied.  
  
Mick nodded. There wasn’t much more he could do for now. It seemed that Arthur had wandered through this portal thing for some reason and hadn’t been able to return. Mick was the one left in charge for now but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this. Arthur was the one that was the leader. What would have made Arthur enter one of these portal things? Mick didn’t know but he did know Arthur. It had to be something important. Well, if it was important to Arthur…   
  
“Right,” Mick finally stated. “Then we guard the portal and wait.”  
  
“Guard?” a person answered.  
  
Tim? Tom? Mick wondered. Fuck, this wasn’t something was he was good at on the best of days. This was probably why Ketch was the better choice to lead them through this kind of thing. Still, he had to do this now, and hope Arthur would return soon. He tried to think about how his Arthur would handle this. Quick, decisive, and efficiently. He could always alter the orders later if need be.  
  
“Yes guard,” Mick repeated. “Any problems with that are irrelevant. Until we know more about it we can’t take any chances. If it changes or anything happens then notify me immediately, understood?” Without waiting for an answer he turned and started making his way back to HQ.  
  
\---  
  
“I really need to-” Ketch began.  
  
“Tell me about your operation,” Becker demanded.  
  
Ketch rolled his eyes. “There isn’t an operation,” Ketch argued. “I was just on a basic supply run and-”  
  
He was cut off as a loud alarm began to blare.  
  
“Fuck,” Becker muttered.  
  
“What is it?” Ketch asked instantly apprehensive.  
  
“Never you mind,” Becker shot back.  
  
“It sounds like an alert,” Ketch pressed. “The issue is what kind. Another portal?”  
  
“Anomaly,” Becker growled. “And it’s _really_ not any of your business,” he added.  
  
“It really is,” Ketch retaliated. “You’re keeping me here against my will. People will be looking for me. If it has anything to do with my people I deserve the chance to talk to them before you abduct them as you have done with me.”  
  
“We didn’t abduct you,” Becker affirmed. “You were helping the person that was attempting to break into our home office.”  
  
“Because -- _she’s family, his mind stated_ \-- we need her.”  
  
Becker nodded as if he understood. Maybe he did. It was possible these people were as close to each other as he was with his teammates. Or maybe he was just reading too much into things.  
  
“So can I get my gun back?” Ketch pried.  
  
“Not on your life,” Becker retorted.  
  
“And how about yours?” Ketch retaliated.  
  
“You don’t give up, do you?”  
  
“Never,” Ketch affirmed.  
  
“Stay,” Becker ordered.  
  
“I’m not a dog,” Ketch disagreed as he stood to follow the others.   
  
Becker growled but Ketch wasn’t willing to let this go. If it was Mick he wanted to make sure that he was safe. If it was anyone else… Well that didn’t matter. What mattered right now was keeping his people safe and finding out everything he possibly could about these people.   
  
-  
  
  
  
Throughout the drive Ketch realized something disturbing. Most of the city was the same but there were a few minor and several major differences. It was almost as if the portal -- anomaly -- had transported him to another London. Ketch’s frown deepened. Perhaps it was more than that. What if he’d been transported to another time or, heavens forbid, another universe somewhere?  
  
When they arrived at the site Ketch’s nerves were more than a little frayed. Again, he spied another one of those weird portal things. Unlike the first one that was red, this one was white in color. Instead of Mick or any of the other troops it was an honest to God dinosaur that emerged through the portal. It was a bit on the small side and had what almost looked like quills. Ketch had no clue what it was but he did recognize trouble when he saw it. As he watched it the raptor let out several clicking sounds and a loud shrill, almost birdlike cry. Ketch turned back to the others.  
  
“Do we kill it?” he asked.  
  
“No,” Becker growled. “Whenever possible we send them back.”  
  
“Back?” he asked incredulous. They wanted to capture and return it? He gave the dinosaur another once over taking in it’s posture, teeth, and talons.   
  
“You literally walked through an anomaly and you don’t know how they work?”  
  
“I didn’t even know they existed before,” Ketch retorted. “The first time I’ve ever seen one was today. It sort of dragged me through before I could do anything about it.” Before he could question why the two were different colours Connor spoke up.  
  
“I’m not surprised,” Connor stated, breaking into the conversation. “With the amount of metal you’re wearing-”  
  
“Not now Connor,” Becker growled. “The raptor first then you can explain your theories until our eyes glaze over.   
  
“Excuse me? Did you just say ‘raptor’?” Ketch demanded.  
  
The creature in question lifted it’s head suddenly and turned it swiftly in their direction as if searching for something.  
  
“Shh,” Becker whispered harshly. “You’ll get us eaten if you don’t quieten down. You’d be surprised how well those things can hear.”  
  
Ketch watched as Becker and several of the others dressed in black spread out and disappeared into the treeline. He knew military when he saw it. If they weren’t military now then it was in their not so distant background and the one called Becker was in charge. Oddly it seemed as if he was only in charge of that contingent and not the entire party. The others he would have pegged as scientists seemed to have a relative degree of autonomy.   
  
-  
  
After everything was over Ketch was surprised that any of them were still alive. The military personnel seemed content to let the scientific personnel call most of the shots. The one exception seemed to be that they did check with Becker beforehand. That ran counter to anything he’d ever known. Granted he’d spent the greater part of his life at Kendricks but he’d never seen such a breach of what was essentially the chain of command.   
  
“You okay Connor?” Becker asked.  
  
“Yeah, just a bit rougher for the wear. You know what I mean?”  
  
“Excuse me,” Ketch interrupted. “Was that an _actual_ dinosaur?” he asked disbelievingly.  
  
“Yes, I thought you knew what you were getting into.”  
  
“Not if it includes dinosaurs,” Ketch maintained.  
  
“Look, I don’t know where you come from but it’s a fair assessment to say it’s different than here. If the anomalies can cause you to end up in an entirely different place then why how are dinosaurs too much for you to accept?”  
  
“I don’t know, let’s see. How about because they’re extinct?” Ketch shot back.  
  
“They weren’t always,” Becker countered.  
  
Matt opened his mouth to reply but before he could say anything a shrieking cry sounded loudly through the anomaly. “Um, perhaps we should worry about that for now and continue this a bit later,” he suggested.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. Connor,” Becker called.   
  
“On it,” Connor answered.   
  
In a matter of seconds the geeky one pulled out some kind of device and pressed several buttons. The white portal thing suddenly folded up on itself and became a floating ball of light. Ketch frowned and tried to puzzle out just exactly what this actually meant. Unable to take not knowing, especially after the dinosaur incident, he turned to Becker.  
  
“ _Now_ does someone want to explain what’s going on?” Ketch asked, irritated.  
  
“Think of them like earthquakes in time along temporal fault lines,” Connor began. “When an Anomaly is open, it directly connects two points in space in different time periods like a doorway, with time passing at the same rate on both sides. It’s our job to find them, contain them, and stop any incursion that might have happened.”  
  
“And they can reach back to any time?”  
  
“And forward sometimes,” Connor agreed. “When that happens we find them, take care of any creature that might have come through, and then lock them.”  
  
Ketch had been nodding along with explanation as he listened to Connor. Suddenly he froze. “You what?” he asked sharply.   
  
“We lock them. That way no other creatures can get through. Then we just wait for them to close. Not all of them close after the same amount of time. Some of them-”  
  
“And what happens to someone who’s trapped inside one when it closes?”  
  
Connor and Becker shared a look. “Well, we’re not sure really. I mean no person’s ever been inside one when we used the locking device. We’ve always made sure everyone was out of the way before locking them.”  
  
“Unlock it now,” Ketch demanded.  
  
“Why?” Becker asked, crossing his arms.  
  
“Because I know-” Because he knew his Mick. Mick would, of course, run through anything without double checking first if he thought Ketch was in any danger. Still he couldn’t bring himself to say that just yet. He needed to make sure these people were safe and wouldn’t just shoot his Mick first.   
  
“Because you know someone?” Becker asked.  
  
Ketch hedged. “I know several people and I also know that they’re going to be looking for me. If something happens to them because of whatever you just did…” Ketch trailed off leaving the threat open ended trusting that the other man would understand the implications. Becker raised an eyebrow and seemed to be contemplating the situation. Finally he nodded and the one called Conner did something that made the portal expand once more. It wasn’t too long before people began to rush through. Ketch didn’t know most of them. He began to rethink things before he started to recognize a few. Finally his Mick appeared.  
  
“Mick,” Ketch whispered.  
  
“Friend of yours?” Becker asked.  
  
“I swear that if you use that on him I’ll shoot you.” Ketch answered immediately, inclining his head toward the weapon the other man was holding.   
  
“No one is going to hurt anyone,” Connor answered. “Right?” he questioned, turning and giving Becker a meaningful look.  
  
“I don’t shoot people without good reason,” Becker replied.  
  
Ketch thought about it. Did he trust the others? Ketch nodded. He wasn’t much for trusting but for some reason the geeky one seemed trustworthy enough so far. As long as he knew Mick was safe then he could deal with everything else later, Ketch reasoned.  
  
-  
  
Mick eyed the others warily. Arthur’s expression told him to be cautious so Mick chose his words carefully. “I’m just a traveller,” he stated conscientiously.  
  
“We know you’re connected to Ketch,” the military type stated.  
  
Arthur gave a slight shake of his head. Mick understood its meaning and proceeded with caution. “I know of him; that’s about it,” Mick answered as casually as he could.  
  
The military one didn’t answer right away and Mick was unsure what to make of the lack of response. He chanced another quick glance back to Arthur carefully. The slight shake of the head gave him all he needed to know. ‘Not yet.’ it said. ‘Later.’  
  
Mick held his breath. He wasn’t good at this kind of thing. This is what Arthur usually did, not him. Luckily for him the military person seemed willing to give him time. The geeky one he honestly didn’t know what to make of yet but he kind of thought they’d get along. In spite of everything he had to rely on Arthur for now though. If Arthur was telling him not to trust just yet then he needed to trust in that.   
  
“We can question them later back at the ARC, right Becker?” the geeky one finally stated. There was an awkward silence as no one else spoke. “I’m sure we could all do with a few minutes to unwind first, yeah?”  
  
It took another few minutes before the other finally replied. “Good thinking Con,” the military guy finally answered with a brisk nod. “But I’m riding back with them.” He motioned to one of the others present. “You take the rest of them back with you. Connor, you catch a ride back with the rest of the security detail.”  
  
Connor hesitated briefly before complying.  
  
A quick glance to the others told Mick that he wasn’t the only one that caught the slight uncertainty. The military type snagged onto it and as much as he didn’t seem the type to question it. Mick filed that away for now. Becker, Mick reminded himself. He needed to keep their names handy, just in case.   
  
Despite Becker agreeing with Connor to wait on questioning them Mick was still apprehensive. He knew the military type didn’t trust them for a second. He realized that the man wanted Connor in a different vehicle to ensure his protection. Mick almost laughed at the notion. In their world attacking another non infected person was almost unheard of. There just weren’t enough healthy people left.  
  
Mick silently loaded himself into the SUV next to Arthur and did his best not to cast glances towards his way. By the time they arrived at the HQ known as the ARC Mick’s nerves were about ready to eat themselves. Still, he couldn’t let it show. Ever the professional Mick did his best to nod at the right times and walk with a purpose. Hopefully he would get a chance to talk to Arthur soon so that he would be able to better understand the situation.  
  
-  
  
Becker knew a match when he saw one. Other people might have missed the slight glances the two gave each other but he was trained to see those kinds of things. For that reason and also because he wanted to keep an eye on these two he decided to have Connor ride back with the others. At least that way he knew Connor would be safe. Invariably his mind drifted to his Matty. He knew exactly how he’d feel if the situations were reversed. Becker almost growled out loud barely resisting the urge.   
  
His Matty was the one precious thing he had left. As jaded as Matty thought he was, Becker knew better. His Matty may be from a… Becker faltered for the correct word… a dystopian universe -- he finally determined -- but he was still hopeful. Becker hadn’t been ‘hopeful’ in a long time. After meeting Matty things had changed. It was hard not to see the good things all around them when Matt was consistently surprised by them at every turn. It wasn’t long before it had begun to rub off on Becker as well.  
  
  
  
-  
  
Matt stared at the odd tableau before him. He eyed the newcomers with interest, taking in their appearance without comment. He carefully resisted the urge to turn his gaze towards Becker for the moment. His Hilary knew how to handle himself. He almost smiled at the way Becker hated when he called him Hilary. “I’m Matt,” Matt introduced himself. “I assume you know Becker and Connor. This is Miss Maitland.”  
  
“Abby, please,” Abby corrected, introducing herself and stepping forward to shake hands.  
  
As Abby introduced herself to the pair Matt moved to stand next to Becker.   
  
“So what’s their story?” Matt whispered.  
  
“No clue yet. I haven’t had a chance to question them. Connor jumped in and suggested we bring them back here before I could.”  
  
“Smart lad that one.” Becker cocked an eyebrow at him and Matt had to force himself not to smile. “I love you but you _can_ be a tiny bit overzealous sometimes.”  
  
Before Becker could respond the others turned and were facing them. Matt made sure to keep his features neutral. He’d been raised to be cautious. Becker had spent more time with the newcomers and therefore Matt was content to let him take the lead on this.   
  
-  
  
Becker knew the instant the others turned around without even looking. Matt’s posture stiffened and his facial features blanked into the mask he normally wore around others. Becker always hated that Matt still felt the need to mask his emotions. It was something they were working on slowly but surely. At least he felt comfortable enough to let the mask slip occasionally, even if it was just around the team. Becker forced himself to shove those thoughts aside and focus on the present for now.  
  
-  
  
Ketch listened to the blonde woman chatting on about various things. Surreptitiously he watched Becker and the new guy, Matt, out of the corner of his eye. The way the two leaned in close and whispered to each other confirmed what he already suspected. Those two were more than just colleagues. He filed that information away for later and returned his attention to the conversation at hand. The woman, Abby, was just finishing up with a story of how she and a few others had been called out to a different anomaly of their own.  
  
“…and so that’s why Matt and I weren’t able to accompany Becker and Connor,” Abby finally finished.  
  
Ketch nodded. “And that’s Matt over there?” Ketch asked, knowing but still double checking the name.   
  
Abby nodded confirmation. Almost as if he could sense their eyes on him, Matt turned to face them. His posture was cautious and wary but not hostile. On his face was the most carefully neutral expression Ketch had ever seen. Ketch didn’t peg him as military but he’d obviously had training of some sort. Equally obvious was the fact that he didn’t trust other people easily. Ketch vaguely wondered about what happened to cause that distrust.   
  
“Right,” stated Becker. “Let’s get you all situated, shall we?”  
  
-  
  
  
  
Dinosaurs? Really, Rowena thought incredulously? Maybe this place was more interesting than she gave it credit for initially. The more she thought about it the more intrigued she became. She was going to have to find out more about what was going on here. Hopefully someone was going to show up soon. It was getting boring just sitting in this tiny room. They’d even locked the door, as if that could keep her in here.  
  
Rowena decided she’d had enough waiting. It hadn’t taken much to unlock the door; barely a thought. Wandering the halls she took in everything. The layout of the place was fairly straight forward. It wasn’t any great stretch of the mind to guess that it was somehow connected to the portals and, by proxy, the dinosaurs. The clacking of her heels was loud and echoed slightly as she idly explored the various hallways.   
  
Occasionally she would open a door but nothing in any of the rooms held much interest for her. She wasn’t looking for anything specific, she just didn’t like sitting still for long periods of time. Learning the layout had the benefit of helping to keep her from being bored as well as being potentially useful in the long run. Turning a corner she exited the corridors and found herself in what looked to be the command center of the building.  
  
From her vantage point Rowena spied the back of a petite brunette woman sitting behind several monitors, fingers rapidly clicking away on the various keyboards. Assorted personnel wove their way through the area no doubt on important missions. Rowena surreptitiously eyed the monitors over the woman’s shoulder. She so wrapped up in what she was doing that she didn’t even notice when someone walked up behind her until they cleared their throat. She didn’t actually jump at the noise but it was a close call. Turning around she found a fairly well dressed man standing behind her.  
  
“James Lester,” he introduced himself holding out a hand.  
  
Instead of shaking his hand Rowena held up her own hand and waited. Without missing a beat the man took her hand, bowed slightly, and lightly kissed it. He straightened and gave her a sharp nod.  
  
“Rowena MacLeod,” she introduced herself finally.   
  
“Pleasure. Is there something specific you needed?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.  
  
“Just looking around dearie.”  
  
“I see. Perhaps we could take a walk then,” he stated.  
  
She had no disillusions, it was a statement not a question. She could, of course, have stopped him from forcing the issue if she’d wanted but she didn’t see the point. With nothing else to do there was no reason not to accompany him. Besides, she might get an actual tour out of the deal that would provide her with even more information about this place.   
  
.  
  
She did indeed get treated to a tour, albeit a very basic one. Currently they were now sitting in his office. From here a person could look out through the wall length windows and see most of the main operations area. She’d even managed to get more information on the whole operation. It seemed fairly efficient even if she was still a bit confused on what the anomalies were and how they worked. They were just starting to discuss them when there was a brisk knock on the door.  
  
“Enter,” James called.  
  
The door opened and two people entered the room. Rowena recognized the two as the ones called Becker and Connor. Becker was obviously some form of military. Connor was just as equally obviously not military at all. She could actually understand the need for combat trained personnel if these people dealt with things like these anomalies and dinosaurs on a regular basis.  
  
“Ah Captain Becker,” James acknowledged. “Everything taken care of, I take it?”  
  
“Yes sir,” Becker answered, clasping his hands behind his back. He cast a brief glance her way before returning his attention back to James. “Almost everyone that came through initially have been sent back, the anomaly has been locked, and those still remaining have been placed in separate interrogation rooms.”  
  
She didn’t miss how he didn’t mention her presence here. Nor did she miss how his gaze didn’t progress to any lower than her face. Too bad he was obviously already taken. A lot of the people they’d seen during the tour had given her odd looks, even if they did try to be stealthy about it. Even Connor had done a once over, even if that was all. She wasn’t blind. She realized from the moment she’d seen them together that Connor was completely smitten with the Abby woman. Actually they did make quite a cute couple.  
  
“Yes, well do let me know what you find out when you’ve finished.”  
  
“Yes sir,” Becker acknowledged.  
  
Becker turned and left, closing the door behind himself.  
  
“Something you needed Connor?” James inquired.  
  
“I’ve been researching the anomaly they came through.”  
  
James quirked an eyebrow at the comment and waited.  
  
“I’ve noticed a few differences with the new anomaly I can’t explain. I’ve run all the tests that I can think of to run. I figured that since she was part of the group that initially came through she might be able to help.”  
  
“Me?” Rowena asked, a bit surprised by the request but honestly not that much.  
  
“Well yeah. See none of the others we came across were ever red. That’s a bit weird innit? They’ve all only ever been white. Well whitish I suppose. Anyway that’s not really the point. Well I mean, maybe it is, I don’t really know yet. It’s possible it’s important. It’s just that since they’ve never been different colors before and the only thing different this time is-”  
  
“Connor,” James snapped.  
  
Rowena’s eyebrows had risen as the other rambled. She vaguely wondered how he had managed to say so much without stopping to take a breath. James, however, seemed completely used to Connor’s circuitous way of speaking.  
  
“Are you going to get to the point any time soon or are we supposed to guess what it is you wanted to ask?”  
  
“Right,” Connor acknowledged with a nod. “It’s just, we don’t know how the anomalies are different now or even if they are. All we know for certain is that something happened when they crossed through that altered the anomaly. Since it happened just after she came through I figured she might know something about what happened and what’s different now.”  
  
Having never seen one of these anomaly things before she didn’t know very much about them yet. She did know, however, that the one she’d come through had been white when she’d first seen it. Knowing that they didn’t normally change colors meant that it was probably the result of the shielding spell she’d used when she’d entered the anomaly. Mentally she sighed to herself. She was going to have to tell them. If the spell altered the anomaly in some way she might not be able to return. Connor seemed like he understood the anomalies well enough to be able to figure out whether or not it was safe for her to cross back through. She just had to hope these people didn’t have too much of an issue with witches.  
  
“It probably had something to do with the spell I cast,” she told them, cautiously watching for their reactions. If anything they merely looked confused. It was some time before either of them said anything. Connor that spoke up first.  
  
“Excuse me?” Connor asked. “Spell?”  
  
“Yes, spell,” Rowena reiterated. “As in, I’m a witch.”  
  
Even after the clarification she was only met with even more confusion.  
  
  
  
-  
  
Matt drummed his fingers on the table eying the other man thoughtfully as he tried to figure out how to proceed. The other man, Ketch, didn’t seem daunted in the slightest. In fact it didn’t seem as if there was much that rattled him. Questioning him was going to be difficult at best. He needed to find an angle. Finally Matt stopped drumming his fingers, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.  
  
“You seem like you’re the person in charge here,” he stated mildly.  
  
Ketch continued eying him steadily but didn’t respond.  
  
“If I were you I’d want to make sure the others were safe.”  
  
Again, no response.  
  
“The portal won’t stay open forever. When it closes there’s no way to tell when or if it will ever open again.” Matt hesitated briefly before continuing. “Tell you what, why don’t you answer a few basic questions and then I’ll let you go check up on the others.”  
  
“Let me see them first,” Ketch countered.  
  
Matt thought about that. It might be worth letting him see the others if it meant he would actually answer some questions. Becker would probably have a conniption but it might actually get them answers faster. In the end that’s what decided him.   
  
“All right,” he agreed. “As long as you promise to answer questions afterwards.”  
  
“Deal,” Ketch agreed.  
  
-  
  
  
  
“Look, no one here is going to hurt you,” said the one Arthur had called Becker.  
  
Mick remained silent. Until he knew what Arthur had told them he couldn’t risk saying something that might contradict whatever story Arthur had concocted. He didn’t exactly blame the others for separating them, he would have done if the situations were reversed. It’s just that it made it all but impossible for him to answer any of their questions.  
  
“Have you ever been through an anomaly before?”  
  
Mick continued to stare ahead blankly.  
  
“Have you ever seen one before today?”  
  
Again, Mick refused to answer.  
  
“Have any of you ever-”  
  
Someone knocked on the door to the room cutting off whatever it was Becker was fixing to ask. With a frown Becker rose and went to answer the door. From where he was seated Mick couldn’t see who it was but he could just hear the hushed whispers. He couldn’t actually make out the words but he could tell it wasn’t Arthur or Rowena. To the best of his knowledge everyone else had been sent back. That meant it had to be someone else associated with the ‘ARC’. It wasn’t too long before the door opened farther and three more additional people entered the room. He straightened a bit when he spotted Arthur. Along with Arthur were the ones called Connor and Matt. Mick subtly glanced towards Arthur who cocked an eyebrow briefly. He shifted his attention to the others present.   
  
Taking the hint Mick turned to Matt and asked, “What do you want?”   
  
“Listen,” Connor replied in Matt’s stead. “We know you’re with… Uh… I forgot his name but we know you’re with him.”  
  
“Connor,” Matt stated blandly. “Get to the point, yeah?”  
  
“He means me,” Arthur stated blandly. “I’ll try to save us all some time, shall I? We’re cooperating with them for now. Okay?”  
  
Mick narrowed his eyes at Arthur suspiciously.  
  
“Without them we can’t get back,” Arthur replied.  
  
“So we’re just going to acquiesce?” Mick asked.  
  
“We’re complying.” Arthur affirmed. Arthur paused for a moment. “Micky,” he finally added.  
  
That’s what decided him. Mick especially hated being called that and Arthur never used that nickname, especially in front of others, unless he truly meant business. Arthur using that nickname, in front of strangers no less, meant that he was already decided on this. Mick knew better than to press the issue right now. “Fine. But I don’t have to like it.”  
  
“You never do,” Arthur agreed amiably.  
  
“Uh… yeah,” Conner replied, seemingly still dithering. “So we’re all agreed then?”  
  
“Fine,” Mick told the others. “And you,” he added pointing a finger over to where Arthur stood, “Stop calling me Micky.”  
  
Arthur shook his head and smirked. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. At least not anytime soon.”  
  
“All of this could probably have been solved faster if I’d just been given a tank,” Becker mumbled.  
  
“A tank,” Arthur’s eyes lit up.  
  
“Don’t hold your breath,” Becker muttered.  
  
Mick rolled his eyes as he listened to the pair of them. Maybe their two groups were that different from each other after all. He sighed, wondering just what they were getting themselves into now. Oh well, at least he had Arthur here with him if things got too far out of hand.  
  
-  
  
Armed with more information Becker still wasn’t sure that he understood their situation any better. Frankly it all sounded like some sort of magic trick to him. He almost rolled his eyes at that thought when he remembered the woman was supposed to be an actual witch. As he was on his way to update Lester he actually ran into said woman; almost literally. Turning a corner he stopped short, just barely managing to keep from crashing into her.  
  
“Excuse me miss,” he apologized with a curt nod of his head.   
  
She paused for a few seconds; eying him, inspecting him. Finally she gave a soft smile and reached out to cup his cheek with her hand. “You’re a sweet boy,” she told him before patting his cheek twice and finally letting her hand fall back down to her side. “It’s so rare to find such a polite young man in this day and age.”  
  
Something about the way she said that made him think she wasn’t just talking about the current times. He started to ponder the implications of her words but forced himself to stop. He found he honestly didn’t _want_ to know.   
  
“Yes,” he replied, almost at a loss for words. “Well… would you like to accompany me to Lester’s office?” he asked, still a touch flustered.  
  
“Oh you dear boy,” she grinned.   
  
Without another word she proffered her arm and Becker, not knowing what else to do, took it.  
  
-  
  
“What are you thinking about right now?” Abby asked.  
  
“I can’t stop thinking about how the anomalies have shifted dimensions. I mean, if they have the capacity to jump dimensions, then what? I mean, right now they’re fixed, you know, stationary,” Connor waved his hand distractedly.   
  
“You’re wondering how else they could change?” Abby questioned.  
  
“I mean-” Connor was cut off as Matt entered the office.  
  
“Hey,” Matt greeted. “Beck’s gotten them to talk. Meet in Lester’s, yeah?”  
  
He left without waiting for an answer. Connor shook his head. “Just like action man,” he muttered.   
  
.  
  
“So then that means-”  
  
“Nevermind what it means,” Connor interrupted, entering. “I mean, okay so yeah that’s kind of important, but not the big thing… yeah?”  
  
“Right,” James Lester drawled. Placing his forearms on the desk he clasped his hands together and leaned forward. “Are you going to get to the point any time soon or should we try to guess?”  
  
“With her magic -- and really, magic -- if the anomalies can shift dimensions then what could happen next? They might shift to different locations, right? So I compiled a list of places they might shift to.”  
  
“Wait,” Becker interrupted. “So you’re predicting a shift?”  
  
“Well, no, but-”  
  
“Remind me why we keep him around,” Lester exclaimed.  
  
“Because he knows things,” Matt interceded. “But Lester’s right. Get to the point, Connor, yeah?”  
  
“Okay fine. If you want to skip the fun parts…”   
  
“Connor,” Matt drawled.  
  
“Right, getting there mate. What I’m saying is what if the anomalies shifted? What if they can now port people to different places?”  
  
“What does this mean in the grand scheme of things?” Lester asked.  
  
“Well, in theory that could mean that the anomalies could be used to travel to other… let’s call them dimensions for now.”  
  
“Wouldn’t matter,” Ketch interjected. “Our whole dimension, as you’re calling it, is overrun with Croats. There’s only a handful of normal people left.”  
  
“Croats?” Matt asked.  
  
“It’s what we call the infected,” Mick informed them. “It’s short for Croatoan. It’s a virus that’s infected most of the population back where we come from. Once you’re infected that’s it, there is no cure. Almost nowhere is safe anymore.”  
  
“Do you know what causes it?”   
  
“That would be the tech department’s job,” Mick stated. “They were retasked to see what they could find out about the virus which, if I’m correct, isn’t much. We do know it affects the central nervous system and specific areas of the brain.”  
  
“Do you know what parts specifically?” Connor interrupted.   
  
“Does it matter?” Matt questioned.  
  
“Maybe,” Connor stated cryptically.  
  
“Anytime you want to share with the rest of us feel free.”  
  
“Well, see, the brain is largely made up of two cell types: neurons and glial cells. Neurons are the basic working unit of the brain and nervous system. They are highly specialized for the function of conducting messages. Glial cells support the various processes involved in moving messages between neurons. The constant exchange of messages between neurons is called neurotransmission. Some neurons send messages in the form of a chemical signal called a neurotransmitter and others send an electrical signal. A neural circuit is formed by-”  
  
“In a language we can all understand maybe?” Matt interrupted.   
  
“Right,” Connor agreed. He chewed on his lower lip as he thought about how best to explain this in the simplest terms. “It’s like this. Neurons are a lot like telephone lines that send messages between your brain and your body. Glial cells are kind of like caretakers of those phone lines. Occasionally they can get a little screwy, yeah? When that happens sometimes you can disrupt them with a low level jolt of electricity.”  
  
Matt lowered his eyebrows and regarded him carefully.  
  
“Like a directed, very controlled, very measured, burst of electricity,” Connor continued meaningfully.  
  
“Like the EMD’s,” Matt added, finally understanding.  
  
“Well, I mean, it’s just a theory. Well, a theory of theory really. They’re just starting studies of the effects in some specific neuro cases. Nothing definite yet but it does look promising,” he finished with a shrug.  
  
“Wait,” Ketch interjected. “You want to shock them?”  
  
Connor turned to the newcomer. “You said it yourself, you know it affects the nervous system and the brain. I’m not saying this will definitely work but it’s worth a shot, innit?”  
  
“Hang on,” Mick objected before turning to Ketch. “You’re seriously considering this?”  
  
“We don’t have anything to lose,” Ketch shot back. “Even if it doesn’t work then we lose nothing. We’re already being overrun with no hope as it is. Sooner or later we’re eventually going to run out of places to raid for supplies. Then what are we going to do?”  
  
The rest of the room watched the argument, their heads following each speaker as if they were watching a tennis match.   
  
“What if it kills them,” Mick argued.  
  
“We’re already killing them. At least this might give us a chance to save them.”  
  
“We don’t even know what these EMD’s are.”  
  
“Electro Muscular Disruptors,” Connor informed them helpfully.   
  
The pair finally stopped arguing and both turned to face him. Connor shifted uncomfortably their gazes. “You asked,” he muttered slightly defensively.  
  
.  
  
“Are they lethal?” Mick asked.   
  
Ketch turned to the others, actually interested in that answer himself.  
  
“They could be if you shoot a person at close range,” Matt answered. “Or if you shoot them repeatedly but if this virus is as infectious as you say I don’t see why you’d have any reason to let them get that close. One shot on the lowest level from a decent distance and you should be fine. Kind of works a bit like a taser.”  
  
“Doesn’t feel like a taser,” Becker grumbled.  
  
A corner of Matt’s lips twitched slightly at that and he looked slightly amused. There had to be more to the story there but Ketch wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. Instead he chose to focus on the more pressing matter at hand.   
  
“I want to see a test,” Mick asserted.  
  
“On one of the targets,” Becker insisted.  
  
“I need a few minutes first,” Connor cut in. “I want to hook up a few things so I can get some readings. That way maybe I can make a few predictions on what might happen.”  
  
“No time,” Matt asserted. “Right now there’s enough teams to cover the anomalies we’ve been getting but they’re still becoming increasingly common. We can’t take time we don’t have and risk not being here when we’re needed. Connor, you and Abby stay here-”   
  
“I can’t,” Connor protested. “I need to be there to get the readings. It would take too long to explain what I need to someone else.”  
  
“I’m not leaving them without one of us present to back them,” Becker dissented at almost the same time as Connor.  
  
“Right,” Matt acquiesced. “Okay, new plan. Connor comes with us. Becker, you stay here and go with the others.”  
  
“Got it,” Becker acknowledged. “I need to steal Ketch for a few minutes before you leave though.”  
  
“Why?” Matt asked, casting Becker a slightly suspicious glance.   
  
Ketch, himself, was equally suspicious.  
  
Becker shrugged. “I need to gear up anyway. I may as well give him a briefing on how the EMD’s work on my way to the weapon storage to save time. It’ll also give you time to talk to Connor about what all he’s going to need. Besides, I figured that you might appreciate the time it would save.”  
  
Matt’s gaze didn’t become any less suspicious but he did give a sharp nod. “Fine,” he replied. “Just make sure not to take too long. I want to be ready to go in less than an hour.”  
  
“I’ll be sure he’s back before then,” Becker assured him. He turned to Ketch. “Come on,” he ordered, jerking his head towards the door as he turned to leave.  
  
Ketch cast a quick look to Mick to reassure him before following Becker out of the office.  
  
-  
  
As Becker exited the office he hoped Ketch would follow. He was gratified when his hopes were rewarded and the other man walked up beside him, keeping pace. Becker braced himself in case the other decided to start asking questions. Thankfully Ketch seemed -- if not precisely happy about it -- to understand that Becker wasn’t ready to entertain any questions just yet. The pair walked in silence as they made their way to the armory.  
  
When they were finally there Becker glanced over to the other man and cocked an eyebrow. With a smirk Ketch nodded and turned away. Finally Becker keyed in his personal code and pressed enter. As the locking mechanism clicked open Ketch turned back around still smirking slightly. Becker almost rolled his eyes. He was thankful that the other man was from somewhere else and wasn’t one of the soldiers under his command. He had a sneaking suspicion that Ketch was the type of person that enjoyed causing mischief whenever he thought he could get away with it.   
  
“Can’t fault me for trying,” Ketch stated genially.  
  
This time Becker actually did roll his eyes.   
  
“So are you going to tell me the real reason you wanted me to accompany you now?” Ketch inquired.  
  
“Actually I really did want to give you a quick crash course on the EMD’s,” Becker maintained.  
  
“Possibly,” Ketch agreed. “Probable, even. But you and I both know there’s more to it than just that. Isn’t that right?”  
  
“All right fine, you caught me,” Becker huffed in mock annoyance. “I sent some of my men out to snag a few things. I put together a bag of…” He paused, searching for the correct word. “‘Supplies’,” he finally finished.  
  
“Supplies,” Ketch echoed back hollowly.  
  
“Yes supplies,” Becker asserted. “And while I made sure to wrap them carefully I’d still highly suggest that you be careful how you handle the bag.”  
  
-  
  
“You will be careful, won’t you?” Abby asked.  
  
“I’m always careful,” Connor grumbled.  
  
Abby stared at him with _that_ look and Connor sighed. “I’ll be careful, promise.”  
  
“Don’t do anything heroic,” she warned.  
  
“That’s usually Matt’s department,” he told her.  
  
“Yeah but I know you,” she reminded him. “You always act before you think. Just promise me you’ll at least try to consider the consequences before you do anything stupidly brave.”  
  
“I promise,” he agreed.  
  
-  
  
Less than an hour later everyone, plus Lester, was once again gathered in the main ops area of the ARC building. Mick frowned at the pack Arthur was now carrying but chose not to remark on it for now. He turned his attention over to where Rowena was conversing quietly with the man who seemed to be the leader of this place. Slowly the rest of the group also turned their attention to the pair. After a few seconds the two turned to the group. Rowena affected a look of innocence Mick saw through instantly.   
  
“Ready?” Matt asked before Mick could call her on it.  
  
“Whenever you are sweetie,” she replied coyly.  
  
“Not now Rowena,” Arthur warned. “We don’t have time for your games.”  
  
“Right,” Matt cut in. “Let’s get a move on then, shall we?”  
  
“Half a moment,” Rowena insisted.  
  
Turning back she took Lester’s hands in hers, leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Mick narrowed his eyes as he watched her carefully. If he hadn’t been specifically looking for her to try something he might have missed her slipping something into one of Lester’s hands. Even though he noted the exchange he still couldn’t identify the item. He had to hand it to her, she was good.   
  
“Rowena,” Arthur called. “Any time now.”  
  
Finally she made her way over to the group.   
  
“All right, all right. Calm down dear boy, I’m ready to go now. Shall we get this show on the road then?”  
  
The five of them made their way to the front doors and exited the ARC. Matt explained he hadn’t wanted to bring any of the soldiers along in an effort to mitigate the chances of infection. Personally, Mick agreed with the decision. The absolute last thing they needed was for the virus to spread to somewhere else if they could avoid it. Exiting the ARC building they made their way to the ‘anomaly’. Mick didn’t say anything but he still couldn’t stop himself from thinking of them as ‘portals’ instead. It didn’t matter, though. What mattered was getting back and figuring out if these EMD things would help.  
  
-  
  
As they stepped through the anomaly they arrived back exactly where they’d left. That was the extent of the good news. The bad news was that there were three dead Men of Letter soldiers, probably those that had been guarding the anomaly, and several infected Croatoan victims ravaging the corpses. Rowena pulled her magic to her and readied a spell just as a bright pulse flashed by on her left side. The Croatoan nearest to their group fell over and jerked a few times. As if that was the signal everyone began to move at once.  
  
Those turned by the virus rushed them and the newly arrived group broke into action in an effort to defend themselves. She had no time to worry whether or not the new weapons would be effective in their task. Instead she focused all her attention on keeping their small group safe. Normally that would mean killing the enemy but she did want to buy them enough time to try out their weapons. In the off chance that they did work it would be some of the best news they’d gotten in a long time. To that end most of the spells she used were either for shielding or non lethal. There were times when it couldn’t be helped.   
  
After a while, just as it seemed as if they were gaining the upper hand, she was grabbed from behind. Rowena quickly readied another spell and almost cast it before she realized the person that grabbed her was the one called Connor from the other place. Almost immediately after he yanked her backwards a Croat lunged at the place where she had previously just been standing. She gave him a nod of gratitude which he returned. Releasing her he turned and quickly fired at another Croat. She watched as the light hit it and the Croat dropped. So far none of the infected seemed any better. She was beginning to doubt that the guns could help them cure the infected but at least they did drop them faster.  
  
-  
  
Mick watched as Croat after Croat dropped. It was troubling that they didn’t move after being hit with the new weapons. He’d really hoped they would help to cure the infected but it didn’t seem like it so far. Oh well, he thought. It’s not like they had anything that worked to cure them before now. He turned just in time to see an infected rushing towards Rowena. Her back was turned and there was no way she would see it in time. Just before it could reach her, however, a hand reached out and yanked her backwards. Mick watched as Connor pulled Rowena out of the infected’s grasp with mere seconds to spare. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw one of the downed Croat’s shift suddenly.   
  
Before he could worry about what it meant another Croat charged him and he just barely managed to dodge out of the way. Raising his gun he took aim just as it was hit by a bolt from one of the EMDs. Unfortunately it fell forward and ended up landing on him before he could roll out of the way. Mick shoved the body off and, out of habit, took aim at it once again just to be sure but it remained still and unmoving. With relief he realized it was really down and wasn’t going to get back up again. Finally he noted that the sounds of combat had tapered off and it was silent once more. A hand suddenly appeared in front of his face and he jumped. Raising his gun he prepared to shoot it’s owner before realizing the hand belonged to Matt.   
  
“Jesus mate,” Mick grumbled. “Almost shot you, you know.”  
  
“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been shot,” Matt replied seemingly unconcerned.   
  
Grabbing the hand Mick allowed Matt to help him to his feet.  
  
“Besides, Becker might actually thank you for it if you did shoot me. At the very least I know he’d consider it amusing as hell.” Matt seemed to laugh when his remark drew a frown from Mick. “He’d consider it payback. When I first introduced EMD’s to the team he wasn’t sure they would work well enough. Insisted that I try it out on him first to see how well they worked.”  
  
Mick turned to inspect the Croat lying nearby before looking back at Matt.   
  
“And he still wanted to date you after that?”  
  
“Actually we were already dating before then.”  
  
“And you still shot him?” Mick asked incredulously.  
  
“I believe it,” Arthur stated, entering into the conversation.   
  
Mick stared at his partner skeptically and Arthur shrugged.   
  
“Matt here has already told us that he had just introduced the weapons. It makes perfect sense Becker would want to know they were effective. As long as Matt knew there wasn’t a possibility it would be lethal I can see him agreeing to it. Besides, Becker doesn’t seem like the type to leave things to chance.”  
  
Matt grinned. “He’s really not,” he agreed.   
  
“Uh, guys?” Connor called out. “These readings are really weird. I mean-”  
  
“Heads up boys,” Rowena interrupted. “Something’s happening.”  
  
.  
  
The past hour seemed like one of the longest Rowena had ever experienced. It had been a wee bit nerve wracking in the beginning. At first, when the others started waking up, no one knew if the new weapons had worked. When the first one that stood up and started to stumble towards Mick, Mick had moved in front of it to keep Ketch from shooting it. Before it ever got to Mick, though, it stopped. After a few tense seconds it finally spoke. Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief almost at the same time. Those that were fully turned by the virus never spoke. After that it was a bit less nerve wracking but still not what she’d consider a pleasant experience by any means.   
  
Slowly more and more of the people began to stir. Not all of them, not even half, but quite a few seemed to be becoming more cognizant. Unsurprisingly several of them were a bit shaken by the whole situation. More than a few were fairly skittish. It took time but eventually the group got them calmed. Rowena eyed the bodies of those that hadn’t stirred. Quite a few of those that remained unmoving seemed as if they’d been infected for a longer time.   
  
She wondered if that was the reason why the weapon didn’t affect them. The two from the other place were finally getting ready to leave. Rowena watched as they said their goodbyes to the others. These two had a crisis of their own to handle. Still they had risked getting infected just on the slim chance that they might be able to help. A very unfamiliar feeling began to rise up inside her. Try as she might she had a difficult time ignoring it. Could she really just let them leave without at least trying to help them with their problem?  
  
\---  
  
Connor, and Matt exit the anomaly and found themselves surrounded by several ARC soldiers. Connor actually breathed a sigh of relief. Logically he knew how the anomalies worked but up until now they’d all been the same. He had been a bit worried that whatever had changed this one had done more than alter its color. So far, however, nothing else seemed all that much different. Connor was a bit sorry they’d had to leave new found friends behind. It had been fascinating to learn that elsewhere supernatural creatures really did exist. He had a feeling they hadn’t even scratched the surface of the differences between the dimensions.  
  
“Lock it and let’s get back inside,” Matt ordered.  
  
“On it,” Connor acknowledged.   
  
As he went to hit the locking mechanism he started to stand. He stopped moving and frowned when the anomaly failed to lock. Still frowning he hit the button again and then again for a third time but nothing happened. He tried the button a few more times before turning back to face Matt.  
  
“Uh Matt?”  
  
“What’s up?” Matt asked.  
  
“It’s not working.”  
  
“Why not?” Matt asked, walking closer.  
  
“No clue,” Connor replied, inspecting the locking mechanism. Nothing seemed like it was out of place. He tried the button a few more times before turning back to Matt. “I can’t find anything wrong with it. It should work.”  
  
“Well obviously something’s not right.”  
  
“Obviously. I just can’t seem to find anything wrong with it right now. As far as I can tell everything’s fine and it should work.”  
  
“We really don’t have time for this Connor. We already have enough problems without having to worry about this on top of everything.”  
  
“You think I don’t know that?”  
  
“Well then get it to work.”  
  
“It’s not that simple. I need time to figure out what’s wrong first. Nothing looks out of place so far as I can see.”  
  
_“Matt?”_ Jessica’s voice asked, coming through over the comms.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
_“Meeting in Lester’s office asap. Can you two make it?”_  
  
Connor turned to Matt and waited. Matt seemed to think about it for a while. Finally he turned to Connor.  
  
“How long do you think it’ll take to fix that thing?” he asked.  
  
“That’s the problem. Without knowing what’s wrong I can’t even begin to guess. It could take five minutes, it could take a few hours.” Connor shrugged. “I couldn’t even begin to give you an accurate estimate.”  
  
“Alright fine,” Matt finally huffed. “We’re on our way,” he informed Jessica.  
  
He turned to the soldiers that had been guarding the anomaly until they’d returned. “You stay here and keep watching over the anomaly. Connor, you’re with me. After the meeting you can get back to working out what’s going on with the locking device.”  
  
As he followed Matt Connor pondered the issues with the locking device. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it. It should work. Maybe it had something to do with whatever Rowena’s magic had done to it that caused the change in color, he thought. They entered the ARC and headed towards Lester’s office without a second glance back to the anomaly.   
  
.  
  
“So,” Lester began as they entered the office. “I leave you for a matter of days and in that time _you_ ,” he stated pointing to Connor “nearly destroy the ARC and _you_ ,” he continued shifting his finger to point at Matt “turn out to be either a visitor from the future or -- in fact, and I think this is the more likely option -- clinically mad.”  
  
“The former,” Matt answered. “But then, I would say that if I was clinically mad right?”  
  
“Don’t you have security checks for this sort of thing?” Lester asked Becker.  
  
“Sorry sir the machine that checks whether people are from the future was out of order,” Becker retorted.  
  
“I’ll do the sarcasm if you don’t mind. So, Philip was in league with Helen and the machine he’s building is the trigger to the end of the world?”  
  
“In a nutshell,” Matt agreed.  
  
“I’ll talk to the minister, see if I can get a DA25; get him to shut it down.”  
  
“As daring last minute attempts to save the world go, that's… really bureaucratic,” Connor noted.  
  
“Do we have an alternative?” Lester snapped.  
  
“Yes,” Matt told him. “I go to New Dawn and shut it down.”  
  
“I gave him the security codes,” Connor informed Lester. “He’s got the schematics for the whole building. If he can make it to the machine he should be able to sabotage it.”  
  
“I’m going to need you to distract Philip and keep him away from the machine and buy me some time, okay?”  
  
Connor nodded. Before he could say anything else the door to Lester’s office opened and Philp entered. Everyone in the room seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak up first as they shifted their gaze away to anywhere but in Philip’s direction.   
  
“What an awkward silence” Philip noted. “Anything I should know?”  
  
“No,” Lester replied calmly. “No, no, no. Purely routine. Well? Thank you all, you’re dismissed. Come on, those dinosaurs don’t chase themselves.”  
  
Everyone began silently filing out of the room leaving Lester alone with Philip. Connor couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved even if it did make him feel just a touch guilty. He had never been really good at keeping secrets.   
  
As the anomaly alert sounded everyone rushed over to the main console.   
  
“Jess what have we got?” Becker asked, grabbing one of the comms and inserting it into his ear.   
  
“Just give me a second, okay?” They watched as her hands rapidly flew across the keyboards, narrowing the location. “It’s somewhere in… the city center.”  
  
Everyone stared at each other for several seconds.   
  
“You better call Lester,” Matt told her.  
  
“Right,” she agreed, picking up the phone. There was a brief pause as she dialed the number and waited for him to answer. “You better switch on your T.V. A T-Rex is rampaging through the city. It’s mayhem.” There was another short pause before she nodded and ended the call.   
  
As she hung up they all stared, fixedly, at the monitor in silence.   
  
“Not exactly a moment for standing around watching the tele,” Lester quipped from behind the group drawing their attention. “Matt, I’m going to go and see the minister. I’ll be in touch.” He started to leave before turning his head and calling over his shoulder, “Oh, and if someone could come up with a cover story for the six o’clock news…” he trailed off, letting the words speak for themselves.   
  
“Okay the plan stays exactly the same,” Matt said. “Jess, you coordinate. Abby, Becker, you’re on the T-Rex. Connor, keep Philip here,” he ordered.  
  
Becker began tossing walkies to everyone as Connor racked his brain trying to find a way to keep Philip distracted.   
  
-  
  
Becker slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the car grabbing an EMD. Abby and the security team did the same only a split second later. The group fanned out and immediately began searching for the T-Rex. Everything was fairly quiet but Becker trusted the team. If Jess said the T-Rex was in this vicinity then it was here. Fairly soon they came across a large area strewn with broken debris.   
  
“This way,” Abby announced.  
  
-  
  
Matt slowed to a stop behind a long line of cars and just barely resisted cursing.  
  
“Jess, it’s blocked. I don’t have time for this, get another route.”  
  
_“The only route that’s clear is the one place no one wants to be, the center of town.”_  
  
“Get me there.”  
  
_“Okay, well turn around and hang a left.”_  
  
Matt followed her instructions keeping an eye out for the T-Rex, just in case. He was so focused on everything else he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting a girl that darted out in front of his vehicle.   
  
“Help! You have to help me please! My friend, she’s really hurt! You have to help me please!”   
  
As Matt opened the door the girl took off. He reached back inside to snag the EMD before rushing after her. “Wait!” he called but it didn’t matter. She continued running and this time Matt did curse, if only mentally. He followed her to some side steps next to one of the nearby buildings and then down them. At the bottom of the short stairway another girl lay, bloody and completely still. Matt knew before he even reached her that it was probably already too late. Still, he had to check.  
  
“Please help my friend, she's hurt,” the girl begged, still crying.  
  
“Okay let me see,” he told her, dropping down next to the other girl.   
  
Placing his fingers on her neck he checked for a pulse. The lack of a heartbeat only confirmed what he already knew. She was already gone and there was nothing he could do to save her now. Instead, he turned his attention to the one that was still alive.  
  
“Okay what’s your name?”  
  
“Jenna,” she sniffled.  
  
“Are you hurt?”  
  
She shook her head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. We just wanted to go shopping.”  
  
“Jenna, me and you are going to have to go. Okay?”  
  
“But what about Lacey?”  
  
“There’s nothing we can do. She’s dead Jenna.” Jenna hesitated and Matt was already trying to come up with another way to persuade her when the T-Rex roared in the distance. “I promise I’ll send someone back, okay? But we have to go now. Okay Jenna?”  
  
Finally she nodded. He grabbed her arm and helped her to stand. The pair of them took off running back to the truck with Matt keeping a hand on Jenna’s back. He got her inside, closed the door and was just getting in himself when she reopened her door.   
  
“I’m sorry but I can’t leave her,” she called back as she took off running.  
  
“Jenna!” Matt yelled.   
  
Damn it. Nothing was ever easy. Starting the engine he drove after her. Just as he rounded a corner and cleared a building the T-Rex ran straight into the truck flipping it over sideways and tripping the T-Rex in the process. Luckily the vehicle ended up landing right side up and his door miraculously still worked. Getting out of the vehicle he grabbed the EMD and eyed the scene carefully.   
  
“Jenna,” he called. “Run to me. Don’t look at it, just run to me.”  
  
Thankfully she did as he asked. Skirting the T-Rex as much as possible she sprinted past it and over to him. Carefully Matt used one armed to move the girl behind himself.  
  
“Jess, the T-Rex…”  
  
_“I’m still trying to track it down.”_  
  
“Don’t bother, it’s here.”  
  
No matter how close the others were there was no way for them to make it here in time to help. He was on his own for now. Taking aim Matt fired at the T-Rex. After every few shots he moved himself and Jenna around the truck in an effort to keep them away from the T-Rex until it either went down or backup arrived. Opening one of the doors he helped Jenna get inside and ordered her to stay down. As it began to sniff at the truck Matt climbed up into the truck bed and took aim.  
  
“Hey! Over here!” he shouted.   
  
When it lifted its head Matt’s EMD was mere inches away from its face. He fired repeatedly until, eventually, it went down. It was at exactly that moment that Becker, Abby and several security team members finally rushed onto the scene. After several seconds Becker finally seemed to relax slightly.  
  
“I take it back,” Becker stated, smirking. “These things really can take down a fully grown T-Rex… Eventually.”  
  
Rolling his eyes Matt jumped out of the truck bed and onto the ground. After trying to start it a few times he was forced to admit the truck was toast. Luckily the others had another vehicle nearby. Leaving the security team to secure the scene Matt, Becker, and Abby made their way back to the where the other vehicle was parked.   
  
_“Matt, anomalies are opening around the world,”_ Jessica informed him.  
  
“It means it starts now.”  
  
“What does?” Abby inquired.  
  
“The convergence. Philip must have known it was coming so he built his machine to coincide with now.”  
  
“Can you stop it?” Abby asked.  
  
“No, and I’m not supposed to; no one is. Convergence is a natural phenomenon. I’m supposed to stop New Dawn which has been designed to interrupt the Convergence.”  
  
“Can’t I just shoot something?” Becker quipped dryly as they entered the vehicle.  
  
-  
  
_“Becker, we've lost contact with Alpha team. There’s an incursion from the precambrian. Can you get there?”_  
  
“We’re on our way.”  
  
_“You’re gonna need breathing equipment.”_  
  
“Copy that Jess.”  
  
“Do you think Matt will be okay on his own?” Abby asked.  
  
“As long as Connor can stall Philip I think Matt will be fine,” Becker answered. Honestly he was probably even more worried about Matt than Abby was but he was doing his best not to show it. He had to trust Matt knew what he was doing and would be safe. He wouldn't let his mind even think about the alternative. If he did then he really wouldn’t be able to deal with the incursions.   
  
“I hope so,” Abby muttered under her breath.  
  
She sounded every bit as worried as Becker felt.  
  
-  
  
_“Matt I’ve just come from the minister’s office.”_  
  
“How’d it go?”  
  
_“His exact words were, ‘the world’s in chaos, we’ve got dinosaurs roaming the streets, and you’re worried about Philip’s research? Have you gone completely insane?’”_  
  
“That well eh?” Matt asked. Truthfully he’d expected as much.  
  
_“The official line is our only priority is managing the anomalies and the creature incursions.”_  
  
“Unofficially?”  
  
_“Stop him. Do whatever you have to.”_  
  
Matt ended the call and pressed the gas pedal down even farther. Hopefully Connor was still busy stalling Philip. This was the entire reason he’d come back to this time. Just a little bit longer and his mission would be complete. That thought caused a small pang of sorrow. If it worked he might never even be born. He could very well disappear from this timeline altogether. He might never see the others again… Might never see Becker again. Clenching his jaw tightly he pushed all those thoughts out of his mind and forced himself to focus solely on the task at hand instead.  
  
\---  
  
Mick entered his office, closed the door behind himself, and leaned back against it while closing his eyes. There was still research to be done but it did seem like the EMD’s were going to be effective in their fight against the Croatoan virus. It didn’t work on all of the infected but at least it had helped to cure a few of them. For the most part it seemed as if it was more effective on those that had been more recently infected. He had just crossed the room and sat down behind his desk when the door to his office opened. He relaxed slightly when he realized it was only Arthur coming to check up on him.  
  
“Hey,” Mick greeted.  
  
“Hey,” Arthur returned.   
  
“What’s in the bag?” Mick asked nodding in the direction of the black backpack Arthur had slung over one shoulder. He had noticed it before but hadn’t had an opportunity to question it until now. Arthur gave him a mischievous grin spread. Making his way forward Arthur removed the bag and set it down on the desk.  
  
“A parting gift from our friends,” Arthur answered almost cryptically. “Mostly it’s just some basic supplies and few of the smaller versions of their weapons. They also saw fit to throw in something else, though.”   
  
“Like what?” Mick asked suspiciously. After all this was Arthur. He knew Arthur’s expressions well enough to know he found something about this oddly amusing. Mick was both happy and also mildly worried by that. Instead of answering Arthur reached into the bag, pulled something out and held it up for Mick to see. Mick broke out into a grin as he recognized the bottle Arthur was holding. “‘Something else’, indeed,” Mick noted.  
  
Arthur set the bottle down on the desk. Hefting the bag back over his shoulder he turned to leave. He stopped at the door and turned back around.  
  
“Oh, one more thing. You haven’t seen Rowena lately, have you?” Arthur asked.  
  
And just like that the tension returned. He absolutely hated it when she did that. It always made him nervous. “She was with us when we got back. You know that, you were there…” Mick paused briefly, pondering the implications. “Why?” he asked suspiciously. “You think she’s doing something we need to be worried about?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Arthur stated, sounding uneasy. “It just always worries me when she disappears like that. It’s probably nothing. She’s probably just gone back to the states,” Arthur said, sounding as if even he didn’t believe it.  
  
Mick nodded but he had a sinking suspicion there was more to it than that. Things were never simple where witches were concerned and Rowena was no exception. Perhaps Arthur was right though, maybe she really had just left to go back home. Both options were equally conceivable where that woman was concerned.  
  
“Yeah,” he agreed dubiously. “It’s probably just that.”  
  
\---  
  
_“Seven minutes until initiation.”_  
  
Cautiously Matt continued to make his way towards the control room of New Dawn. He couldn’t risk alerting any of the guards to his presence. When he heard one of the heavy doors open behind him he turned quickly and took aim. He relaxed when he realized it was just Abby and Connor.   
  
“Hey,” Connor greeted.  
  
“Good to see you.”  
  
“You too.”  
  
“He’s already started New Dawn,” Matt informed them.  
  
“Initialization,” Connor stated. “There’s still time. Leave the machine to me.”  
  
“You cover Connor,” Matt told Abby. “I’m going after Philip.”  
  
Connor and Abby took off in the direction of the machine and Matt returned to making his way back to the control room. If he couldn’t stop Philip then it would be upto Connor and Abby to destroy the machine. All they needed was for one of their groups to succeed. Maybe, just maybe, this would actually work.  
  
-  
  
When they got close Connor rushed up the stairs to shut down the machine while Abby stayed at the bottom to stand guard. While Connor did whatever it was he was doing Abby kept an eye open for any trouble. After only a few seconds alarms began to blare. Abby set her feet and prepared to fend off anyone that arrived to try and stop Connor. The first guy showed up pointing a gun up the stairs in her direction. Snagging a barrel she rolled it down the stairs knocking him over. As he went over another swiftly took his place. She managed to fend of several of them but there were too many.   
  
Eventually one of them got the better of her. He ended up behind her and managed to slip an arm around her neck before she could stop him. Other security guards showed up and Abby desperately sought for a way to stop them before they could interrupt Connor. There was just no way she could get free in time. Abby began to panic before the room filled with a white light. Squinting against the brightness slowly opened her eyes. At first all she noticed was that she was no longer being restrained. Eventually she could make out a swathe of bright red. Her vision finally cleared and she could eventually make out the person.  
  
“Rowena?” Abby asked incredulously.  
  
“Don’t mind me dearie.”  
  
“What was that?”  
  
“Just a little spell I picked up from the Book of the Damned.”  
  
“The what‽” Abby exclaimed.  
  
_“Auxiliary power reactivated.”_  
  
“I do believe we should discuss this later,” Rowena remarked. “Perhaps at a time when everything is a wee bit less pressing, hmm?”  
  
-  
  
Matt struggled against the arms restraining him.   
  
“Philip no!” Matt shouted.  
  
“Get him out of here,” Philip ordered.  
  
Try as he might Matt couldn’t break free from the arms holding him.   
  
“Philip!”  
  
He continued to struggle against the arms restraining him as they pulled back to the door and out the room. He could all but feel his mission slipping through his fingers. This couldn’t be happening; not when he was so close to finishing this. He _needed_ to stop this, had to, or else the future would be forever doomed. The Earth would end up ravaged by poisonous winds and future predators that would kill off the last of the human race. He couldn’t let that happen.  
  
-  
  
Abby stood outside watching Rowena chant in some foreign language. Nothing seemed to be happening. Abby was just about to run back inside when one of Rowena’s arms shot out and snagged her wrist. As Abby turned back to make a scathing remark Rowena’s eyes flashed a deep violet before returning to normal.  
  
“Not now,” Rowena hissed.   
  
Something akin to electricity seemed to shoot through Abby’s arm and up her shoulder causing it to ache fiercely.   
  
“They’re on their own for now.”  
  
Rowena returned to her chanting and Abby did her best to hope.  
  
-  
  
Jess worked furiously trying to get the computers working again. After the EM surge had knocked out everything they’d lost all contact with everyone. If she couldn’t get things up and running then they wouldn’t have any idea what was happening in the outside world. Suddenly her mobile rang, startling her.  
  
“Now I’ve seen it all, mobile phone reception when you really need it,” Lester complained.  
  
Ignoring the remark she checked the screen.  
  
“It’s Becker,” Jessica announced handing the phone over to Lester.   
  
Answering the call Lester put it on speaker.  
  
_“Electricity’s out all across the city. It’s as if someone’s set off a huge electromagnetic weapon. What’s Matt say?”_  
  
“We’ve lost touch with him. Get to New Dawn, find out what’s going on.”  
  
_“We’re on our way.”_  
  
“Good man,” Lester stated as he hung up and handed the phone back to Jessica.   
  
-  
  
“Connor!” Matt shouted.  
  
“Matt!” Connor returned, running over to join them. “Philip! Where’s Philip‽” Spying Philip off to the side Connor hurried over desperate to converse with him.   
  
“I know this is what Helen wanted, I just don’t understand _why_ ,” he all but shouted. “The anomaly’s grown so fast.”  
  
“Give us the code so we can shut down the system,” Connor insisted.  
  
“It’s too late. It’s too-”  
  
“Stop lying to me, Philip! Otherwise I’ll drag you through that anomaly myself. I’ll show you what you’ve done! … Listen to me, I know your intentions were good. I know you were trying to help.”  
  
“ _This_ is what Helen exploited,” Abby exclaimed angirly. “This is what she always exploited. Humanity; you’re humanity.” She spared a glance over to Rowena. The redhead merely cocked her head and seemed content to let them handle things for now. Abby growled in frustration.  
  
“She didn’t exploit my humanity Abby,” Philip denied. “She exploited my ego.”  
  
“Give us the code so we can still fix this!” Connor insisted.  
  
“It’s no use,” Philip argued. “The EM surge would have fried the data. We can’t just quit the program! … Unless… There is a way, there is a possibility. Connor I need you to crash the computer in the turbine room.”  
  
“Do it,” Matt ordered. “Then get out of here. I’m going with Philip.”  
  
“Alright,” Connor agreed. “Come on,” he told Abby.   
  
Both of them took off with Rowena following close behind them. Connor allowed himself a moment to wish Matt well and hope that things worked before turning his mind back to the task at hand. They couldn’t fail. He wouldn’t let himself be the reason humanity was wiped out of existence without doing everything he could to stop it.  
  
-  
  
“Okay how do we do this?” Matt asked.  
  
“I can shut this machine down,” Philip assured him. “But when I do there won’t be much left of this building. You need to leave.”  
  
“But can’t we shut it down and then make a run for it?” Matt offered.  
  
“As soon as I take the last system offline it’ll be like… slamming the brakes on an aircraft traveling five hundred miles an hour,” Philip warned.   
  
“Everything in here will be vaporized,” Matt noted. “Including you, Philip.”  
  
“Matt, I’m the bad guy.”  
  
Matt stared, unable to believe he couldn’t save Philip. As much as he didn’t like the other man he didn’t want him dead. He ran through solution after solution without hope. Even as he shook his head in disbelief he knew it was no use. Someone would have to stay behind to shut down everything. There was just no other way. While it made sense that it was Philip it still went against every moral fiber ingrained in Matt’s core to leave someone to die without at least attempting to help them.   
  
“Philip,” he began, unsure where to go from there.  
  
“I know,” Philip assured him. “Trust me, I know.”  
  
-  
  
Rowena watched as Connor finished whatever he was doing with the machine. She hoped he was successful but honestly it didn’t matter. She was going to destroy the machine no matter what. The spell she’d cast earlier would help ensure there was nothing left. As they started to leave Connor halted pulling Abby back. That in turn pulled Rowena back. Matt suddenly rushed up and joined them.  
  
“Where’s Philip?” Connor demanded.  
  
“Philip’s where he needs to be,” Matt shouted to be heard over the steadily increasing noise. “He wants to do the right thing, yeah? Now let’s get going before it’s all in vain.”  
  
“But,” Connor began to argue.  
  
“Not now,” Matt countered. His face softened slightly. “Later, yeah?”  
  
For a few seconds Connor looked indecisive. After a few seconds he nodded once and headed towards the door. The others quickly following suit.   
  
-  
  
They watched as the building collapsed in on itself.   
  
“It’s too powerful now. It doesn’t need the machine anymore,” Connor informed them. “There’s no way we can stop it now.”  
  
“Your anomaly, the one in your lab,” Matt broke in. “It’s a prototype for this one, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah,” Connor confirmed.  
  
“So essentially it’s the same anomaly?”  
  
“It must have reopened,” Abby surmised. “Which is how the predators got into the ARC.”   
  
“There’s a way to destabilize the anomaly.”  
  
“How?” Matt asked.  
  
“By merging the prototype with this one.”  
  
“Right. You two stay here,” Matt ordered. “Rowena, you’re with me.” If this worked then nothing else really mattered. On the other hand if this didn’t work he didn’t want the others to be endangered needlessly.   
  
Matt and Rowena took off headed for the truck. Matt hoped against hope that this would actually work. If it didn’t… Well, then they’d worry about that if or when it happened. For now he just focussed on getting them back to the ARC to retrieve the prototype. Starting the truck he waited just long enough for Rowena to buckle her seatbelt. Throwing the truck into gear he started making his way back to the ARC. It was several seconds before Rowena finally broke the silence.  
  
“So where’s tall, dark, and brooding then?” she inquired.  
  
Matt’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as his jaw clenched painfully.  
  
“No idea,” he replied. Hopefully his voice sounded steadier than he felt. Truth was, with all the anomalies and call outs he had no idea where Becker was at the moment. There was also no time to worry about that. Either Becker was safe or… Nope, not going there, he told himself. Becker was fine. Becker was always fine and would continue to be so. He readjusted his grip on the steering wheel again and took a deep breath. Finally he released it “Either still on a call out or else back at the ARC,” he answered with a slight shrug.  
  
When they finally reached the ARC Matt had just barely parked the truck before both of them were out of the vehicle and running for the main building. He was a bit surprised that she could keep up with him in those heels but he chalked it up to her having experience running in them and let it go. They’d almost reached the entrance when he spied movement out of the corner of his eye. He reached out a hand to stop Rowena and took aim with his EMD. He almost fired before realizing who the other person was.   
  
“Becker!” Matt called.  
  
Becker, who had been making his own way to the building stopped, turned, and aimed his own EMD before he seemed to recognize them. His shoulders relaxed and he lowered his weapon. Swiftly he made his way across the parking lot and over to Matt and Rowena. He gave them both a quick once over, his eyes lingering a second or two longer on Matt before finally giving a quick nod.  
  
“What are you two doing here? Where are the others? Is everyone okay?”  
  
“Connor and Abby are still at New Dawn and as far as I know they’re fine. We came because we need to get the anomaly Connor created. We need it to help destabilize the anomaly Philip’s machine created. It’s grown too powerful now. Even destroying the machine couldn’t stop it. Connor thinks that if we join them together might help to stop it.”  
  
“Right. You two stay behind me,” Becker ordered.  
  
Under any other circumstances Matt might have argued. He had just as much experience if not more in protecting himself and others. Right now, however, there just wasn’t the time for it. He fell in step behind Rowena to protect the rear of their group. The three of them made their way into the building and started making their way to Connor’s lab. Before they’d gone too far they came across Jessica and Lester hiding behind a pillar. Lester appeared to be injured but Jessica seemed to be doing alright. Matt dropped down to inspect and check them for injuries. He felt a lot of the worry drain out of him when he realized Jessica was fine and none of Lester’s injuries appeared to be life threatening.  
  
“Let’s get him to the medical bay and seal them in there,” he told Becker. That’s all we can do for now, right? Jess, how many were there?”  
  
“Um, four… or five. Maybe more?”  
  
“Okay, Jess, you and Becker get him to the medical bay. Rowena, you follow me.”  
  
“You’re going after Connor’s anomaly?” Becker questioned.  
  
“Aye,” Matt agreed. “We’ll meet back at the truck.  
  
“And if you get into trouble before then?”  
  
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Rowena stated.   
  
“And what happens if you two run into something you can’t handle?”  
  
Rowena almost looked offended at that remark. “I’ve been ‘handling’ myself for longer than you’ve been alive my boy. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” After a few seconds her face seemed to soften. “I’ll take care of your Matt and make sure he gets back to you safe and sound. You just worry about keeping yourself alive.”  
  
-  
  
The trip to the infirmary went fairly smoothly and they managed to make it there without running into any trouble. While surprising Becker wasn’t going to question their luck. After getting Lester set up and teaching Jessica how to read the equipment they took off once again to find the others. They found Matt and Rowena just as they were exiting Connor’s lab.   
  
“How’d it go?” Becker asked, eying the case Matt was carrying.  
  
“Fairly well so far. Now all we have to do is get back. Let’s just hope we still have enough time, yeah?”  
  
“We will,” Becker assured him. He wished he actually felt half as confident as he was trying to portray for Matt’s sake. He wasn’t sure if they could make it or not but now was not the time for doubts. They’d either make it or they wouldn’t. There wasn’t time to worry about what would happen if they didn’t. Honestly he didn’t want to think about what would happen if this _did_ work either. They’d face that bridge when they got there. Until then there was no point in worrying about matters they couldn’t change.   
  
-  
  
Becker jogged over to where Matt was standing. He placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder and waited until the other man turned around to face him. “You might not make it through this, you know,” he stated softly.  
  
“It’s the only chance we have.” Matt was silent for a while before continuing. “You know why I have to do this,” he said quietly. “It was always ever about this moment.”  
  
“If you fail… You die. If you succeed… It could change the future. You might never even have existed. You could just disappear.”  
  
“Hey,” Matt whispered softly.   
  
Both of them stared at each other before Matty finally pulled Becker in close. As the pair kissed Becker allowed his eyes to slowly slide closed. Was this really the last time he was ever going to get to see Matt? He’d tried hard to prepare himself for this eventuality. In their line of work people got hurt and occasionally even died. Even if Matt’s story hadn’t been true he still tried to prepare himself for the fact he might lose Matt. It hadn’t helped. Becker wasn’t sure there was anything that would have prepared him for this.  
  
“Is the truck ready?” Matt asked.  
  
“It just needs the wheel secured,” Becker answered.  
  
“I’ll see to that,” Matt told him.  
  
Becker turned to look at the anomaly before turning back to Matt. Matt hopped into the truck and slammed the door shut. That was when Becker understood. Matt never intended to secure the steering wheel. He was going to drive it in himself. Becker raced over to stop him, the others following a second behind but it was too late. Matt had already sped away before any of them could make it over in time to stop him. He watched helplessly as the truck sped away and disappeared through the anomaly.  
  
The anomaly pulsed brightly several times before erupting into a brilliant, blinding, white light seering into his eyes. As the light faded the anomaly pulsed a few more times, pulled several nearby objects through it, before finally growing smaller. Eventually it seemed to collapse down and wink out of existence before their eyes. Becker stood, frozen, unable to accept what just happened. He felt a hand on his arm and barely noticed when Rowena reached an arm around his shoulders. Matt was gone. He just couldn’t seem to make his mind accept what had just happened.  
  
As much as he had tried to prepare himself for this possibility he hadn’t really let himself believe it would actually happen, that they wouldn’t find a way around this eventuality. Matt was really and truly gone. Even if he wasn’t wiped out of existence he wouldn’t be born again for a long, long, time. Their paths would never cross again. As he stared at the fog left behind from the collapsing anomaly he thought he could almost see something moving. He straightened slightly and peered into it, trying to get a better view just to be sure. It wasn’t his imagination, something was definitely moving inside the slowly dissipating fog.  
  
“Matt,” Becker whispered. Somehow he knew. He didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. It had to be Matt. As the figure neared it broke into a jog. Finally it made its way through enough of the fog to become clearly visible. “Matt!” Becker rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the other man, the rest of them following suit a split second later.   
  
“How did you survive?” Becker asked.  
  
“No idea,” Matt told him.   
  
“Do you think we did it?” Connor asked. “Do you think we changed the future?”  
  
“Yeah,” Matt answered. “I think so.”  
  
Becker was sure they if had or not. Truthfully he didn’t care. As long as he had Matt back with him it didn’t matter. Everything else could wait.

  
“Wait,” Connor stated suddenly. “How are we supposed to, uh, get back?”  
  
Everyone was silent for several seconds.  
  
“Right. Well a walk doesn’t sound that bad I suppose,” Connor muttered.  
  
Becker grinned and the rest of the group burst out into fits of laughter.  
  
-  
  
Back at the ARC Matt couldn’t release Becker’s hand. It almost felt like if he loosened his grip then his Hilary would disappear. It was a stupid and irrational fear, he knew, but he just couldn’t help it. Besides, after the day they’d had who could blame him. They walked into the main operations room and Jessica ran up to greet them.   
  
“How are you feeling Lester?” Matt asked.  
  
“What an idiotic question. How do you think I’m feeling?” Lester snarked. “I take it this means we’ve won then?”  
  
“We did it,” Matt confirmed.   
  
“Guess this means we’re stuck with you now,” Lester huffed.  
  
“I guess it does,” Matt agreed, smiling.  
  
“I think we should keep the whole ‘man from the future thing’ just between ourselves, don’t you? The minister’s confused enough as it is.”  
  
“Well this is turning into a surprisingly good day,” Connor beamed. “With us saving the world and… you know.”  
  
“I suppose that’s the end of the anomalies,” Lester presummed.  
  
“It is possible Philip’s machine might have closed the anomalies forever,” Matt speculated.  
  
“That’ll be really weird,” Connor noted. “Being normal again.”  
  
Suddenly the phone in Lester’s office started ringing and Jessica ran off to snag it.  
  
“Only the minister has that number. I think I’m probably in for an earful.” He took the phone from Jessica’s outstretched hand and answered it. “James Lester.” There was a slight pause as he listened to the other person. “Understood.” Finally he hung up and turned back to the assembled group. “So much for being normal Connor. Train just left King’s Cross and disappeared into thin air. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Anomalies? Chop, chop.”  
  
The group turned and sprinted off to gear up. Becker snagged some equipment off of the central desk and began handing it out to everyone. All in all everything as if it was back to normal. Well, as normal as it ever was for them.  
  
-  
  
“Miss McCloud,” James called  
  
Rowena turned around.  
  
“A minute, please?”  
  
“It’s not as if I have too many other pressing matters to attend to at the moment,” she acquiesced.   
  
“Indeed. I was just wondering,” James trailed off.  
  
“Yes,” she prompted.   
  
“Now that the end of the world seems to be temporarily on hold I was curious as to what your current plans might be.”  
  
“I suppose I could be tempted to stay. Only for a while, mind you. I do eventually have to find a way back home.”   
  
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, lips quirking into a slight smile.   
  
He offered her his arm and cocked an eyebrow. With no reason not to, Rowena took it and followed him up to his office. Eventually she really did have to focus on finding a way home but there would be time for that later. For now she allowed herself to get swept away in the present and just enjoy the moment.  
  
\---  
  
  
  
It had been two weeks since the ‘portal incident’ as it had come to be known. In that time they’d fine tuned and refined their method of countering the virus and reintrograting those that could be rehabilitated. As it turned out the devices did help to interrupt the virus. However there also seemed to be a time limit to its effects. Those that were infected with the Croatoan virus for a longer period of time usually didn’t survive the change back. Still they were able to save a good many of those infected and prevent several others from even turning.  
  
Not only did this effectively halt the spread of the virus but it also helped to repopulate their ranks. It also had the added benefit of providing much needed downtime to those who had been working to control the outbreak from the beginning. Consequently Mick was able to spend more time with Arthur. While it was nice he did worry that the rigid views of the previous administration would take hold once again. If that happened it could spell trouble for both he and Arthur. As he was busy musing about what the future might hold for them an arm reached over and settled across his chest. Mick frowned as he stared at the bandaged fingers. He always hated it when Arthur got himself injured.  
  
“What are you thinking about?” Arthur murmured sleepily.  
  
“Nothing important,” Mick assured him.  
  
Arthur let out an amused laugh before snuggling closer. “You forget, I know you better than you know yourself. It’s never ‘unimportant’ when you have that look on your face.” Arthur shifted and propped his head up on one hand. “So tell me, what is it? What’s wrong Micky?”  
  
Mick smiled at the nickname. “I was just thinking about the future. I mean, now that things are getting back to normal what if… What if things go back to the way they were? I mean, what if _they_ decide to do something about our relationship?”  
  
Arthur cocked his head slightly as he pondered the question. Eventually he shrugged.   
  
“Doesn’t matter,” he finally stated.  
  
“How can you say that?”  
  
“After everything you’ve done to protect everyone? After all you’ve done to hold this place together? After everything _we’ve_ done? Without our involvement most of them wouldn’t even be here. The way I see it, they owe us. Besides, if they tried to do anything to you because of this relationship I’d make sure it was the last thing they ever did. I promise you they _really_ don’t want me as their enemy.”  
  
“Arthur,” Mick tsked in amusement.  
  
Again, Arthur shrugged. “Well, it’s true. After everything we’ve been through just to survive, not to mention curing the others, we deserve an exemption from a few of their more stringent regulations, ‘The Code’ be damned.”  
  
“But what if-”  
  
Mick was cut off as Arthur placed a finger over his lips.  
  
“Do you trust me?” Arthur asked him.  
  
“For now until the end of time, a thousand times over, yes,” Mick replied.   
  
Maybe, just maybe, they were finally going to be able to take a day to relax. Mick couldn’t remember a time when they’d been able to lounge around for a full day. With the virus running rampant it had taken a lot to keep the remaining people safe and fed. None of them had the time to take a ‘day off’ since the beginning of everything. He finally allowed himself to believe that things might actually be looking better for them. He leaned forward intent on kissing Mick again.  
  
Instantly and without warning there was a bright flare of red light that had Mick squinting against the intensity. When he could open his eyes he spied the glimmering shards of an anomaly pulsating lightly in the middle of the room. He blinked a few times trying to determine if he was seeing things. No such luck. Deep in the brightness he thought he saw movement. As it approached the figure slowly became clearer until, finally, they stepped all the way through the anomaly and into the room.  
  
“Hello boys,” Rowena greeted.  
  
Mick groaned hoping against hope that this time would be the one time Rowena’s visit _didn’t_ herald some new form of trouble. Like they could get so lucky? Should have known better, he realized. Sighing in resignation he moved Arthur’s arm and sat up to greet the witch.   
  
“Hello Rowena,” he greeted. “To what do we owe this visit?”

**Author's Note:**

> *Some of the text near the end is taken from the show and completely not mine. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Credit to AnyRei for the wonderful art:
> 
> https://anyreiart.tumblr.com/post/618254204892577792/masterpost-art-for-spn-dystopia-author


End file.
